Well tools, and particularly multiple string tubing hangers which must be rotated for orientation after landing, have frequently been provided with ball bearings or like antifriction bearing means to provide ease of rotation via, e.g., a handling string. Bearing-equipped well tools according to the prior art are shown, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
2,778,433: Brown, PA1 3,688,841: Baugh, PA1 3,693,714: Baugh,
Heretofore, such well tools have been so constructed that the weight applied to the tool is supported through the antifriction bearing either directly, as in the structures shown in the Baugh patents, or through the series combination of the bearing and a packing or seal structure. While prior-art tools of this type have achieved considerable acceptance, there has been a continuing need to improve the freedom of rotation provided and to improve the capability of the tools to support very heavy loads as, for example, in the case of a tubing hanger supporting long tubing strings.